1)
Misconception: People he believe that he put teams in the deep south
Fact: John Ziegler announced Florida, Tampa, San Jose, and Anaheim and was President when Green announced the North Stars were moving

2)
Misconception: People believe that he orchestrated the change from historical division names to geographic division names
Fact: After numerous complaints from sportscasters (almost all of them Canadian), John Ziegler ordered an examination of the Conference and Division names in 1990. Using polls from season ticket holders at all 21 teams and the Hockey News, players and fans alike voted for the geographic names. The change was announced at the 1993 All-Star game by Gil Stein, who also showed off the new 'East' and 'West' jerseys for the 1994 All-Star Game

3)
Misconception: People are upset because he locked out the players....twice
Fact: The owners control Bettman. The reason Bettman was hired was because he was one of only two candidates who would agree to lock out the players if it came to that. For example, if you were in the running for the job, and you answered all the questions right, and then the last question ("Will you lock out the players?" and you said 'no'. You would no longer be considered.

4)
Misconception: Bettman's the reason the NHL is not on ESPN
Fact: The NHL was on ESPN from 1998 through 2004 under Bettman's watch, and he gave the owners the ESPN proposal first. Since ESPN only wanted to pay $18MM a year to the league, the owners voted 30-0 against it.

Bettman's unfortunate in the sense that he's been the Commissioner in the 'Internet' era where you can read what anybody says anytime. JOhn Ziegler was bashed regularly while he was President....a listen to any Canadian radio station call-in show would tell you that. Red Fisher in Montreal Gazette and Frank Orr of the Toronto Star were extremely hard on Ziegler. The difference was they had smaller audiences (seriously, how many of you ran to your local library to read the Toronto and Montreal papers in 1985?) than any writer/blogger has now.

He's not a likeable person...he's a lawyer, and he has absolutely no hockey background...unlike Ziegler who had season's tickets to Red Wings games (mind you, he was also the Red Wings lawyer from 1961 through 1977 as well). BUt he's made the lwague a stronger business and a stronger brand.

Attendance was NEVER as issue for the Nordiques or the Jets, corporate dollars, and low income ticket buyers were the issues. Winnipeg has a relatively low average income per family compared to the other cities of comparable size, and fewer corporate dollars means seats would be more expensive.

Expensive seats combined with a low income, means that for most Winnipegonians, the prices would be out of reach.

The Jets were among the lowest priced tickets when they left, and even as they raised prices every year, their season ticket base dropped.

Based on the 2005 report, the average ticket price would be well over $100 in order for Winnipeg to be able to sustain a team, that would make the Jets the most expensive seat (The Wings average ticket is at $58).

To give you an example, Ottawa is slightly larger than Winnipeg according to StatsCanada. Ottawa's average income is 43% HIGHER than Winnipeg's. Ottawa's corporate tax base is 7x larger than Winnipeg, and Ottawa currently ranks 28th in the NHL in corporate sponsorship and will lose close to $20MM this year. The Senators just happen to have an owner who doesn't care if he loses money, otherwise this franchise would be mentioned in the same breath as the Thrashers, Coyotes, and Predators as on their way elsewhere. Again, Calgary and Edmonton already lose money, and Ottawa lost more money last year than any club except Phoenix. Ottawa is having to cut their ticket prices (even for premium games this year) and this is with a pretty good on-ice product that's winning games and is playing a good brand of hockey.

Every business person who has done an analysis of today's NHL and today's Winnipeg says Winnipeg wouldn't survive in the NHL. Wayne Gretzky told the Economic Club of Toronto that Winnipeg doesn't stand a chance (and as an owner, he knows what the numbers are). It's time for people in Winnipeg to realize that unless their city grows (it also has grown very little in the last 13 years according to StatsCan (regardless of what the city of Winnipeg tells people) it's not in the cards.

Winnipeg was generally near the low end of the NHL pay scale. Thois year, 20+ teams are within $2-3MM of the high end, and not surprisingly, the teams near the low end....were in the draft lottery.